Equity bank loses Ksh 179 Million to hackers in massive card fraud scandal - The money was stolen in less than a week.

 

Tuesday, April 16, 2024 - Equity Bank has fallen victim to online fraudsters after Ksh 179 million was siphoned fraudulently from 551 bank accounts.

A leaked letter addressed to the Director of the Banking Fraud Investigations Department at the DCI reveals a shocking theft of Ksh 179,677,736 from 551 customers through debit card fraud.

The bank's risk department noticed something fishy on April 15, 2024, with a sudden surge in transactions traced back to their MasterCard GL.

Between April 9th and 15th, hackers siphoned off over Ksh. 179 million fraudulently from the 551 accounts.

The letter states: 'Early on April 15, 2024, the bank's risk department discovered an upsurge of transactions emanating from the bank's incoming MasterCard GL. Preliminary investigations revealed that between April 9th and April 15th, Ksh. 179,677,736 was paid out from the GL fraudulently to the 551 Equity Bank accounts. Some Ksh. 63 million went to Safaricom Mpesa and Ksh. 39 million to eleven other banks.

Equity Bank is now scrambling to track down where the money went and freeze it to keep it safe.

 They claim to have locked down over Ksh. 60 million in those 551 accounts and are urgently asking the Banking Fraud Investigations Department to catch the perpetrators.

The letter is signed off by Gerald Munyiri, the General Manager of Security & Investigations at Equity Bank.